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Pete: "We did two
versions of 'Circles,' which were both identical because they were both copies
of my demo. Shel [Talmy] put in a High Court injunction, saying there was
copyright in the recording. In other words, if you're a record producer and you
produce a song with a group, and you make a creative contribution, then you own
that sound....He took it to the high-court judge and he said things like 'And
then on bar thirty-six I suggested to the lead guitarist that he play a
diminuendo, forget the adagio, and play thirty-six bars modulating to the key of
E flat,' which was all total bullshit -- he used to fall asleep at the desk."

"Circles" was
planned for the A-side of the follow-up single to "My Generation" and had been
recorded for that purpose with producer Shel Talmy 12-13 Jan. 1966. The Who then
secretly jumped ship from Talmy, who had them bound under contract, and recorded
"Circles" again for the B-side of their actual follow-up single "Substitute."
This version differs from the Talmy production most noticeably for having less
reverb on the vocals, Pete's "yeah" following the line "I'm walking right back
again/Back to you" and some guitar runs during the instrumental break.

This version of
"Circles" was first released in the U.K. 4 March 1966 as both "Circles" and
"Instant Party" on Reaction 591001. On 8 March, Talmy was given his injunction
against further sales. Reaction re-issued the single 15 March with The Graham
Bond Organization (as "The Who Orchestra") instrumental "Waltz For A Pig" on the b-side in place of
"Circles." The injunction was lifted 25 March and further copies of "Substitute"
with the "Circles" or "Instant Party" b-side were sold. The recording again
appeared at the end of side one of the EP Ready Steady Who issued 11 Nov.
1966 and it was also used by Polydor outside the U.K. as the common B-side to
"Dogs.". "Circles" was not used on either the 1966 or 1967 single issues of "Substitute"
in the U.S. and wasn't released there until the Two's Missing LP/CD in
1987. The only other CD containing the recording is Polydor's Rarities
1966-1972 Vol. 1 & Rarities 1966-1972 Vol. 2 issued outside the U.S.
in 1991. Both CD's are currently out of print.

Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde

(John Entwistle)
Gowmonk, Inc. (BMI)

Recorded at IBC
Studio, London 5 Jan. 1968 with overdubs recorded 14 Jan.

Produced by Kit
Lambert

John: "Jekyll and
Hyde was written about Keith Moon. The potion was vodka. I drew a comic strip
about it, you know, kindly Dr. Moon changes to Mr. Hyde, and wrote the song
afterwards...the idea for me to write
'Silas Stingy' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,' they were all meant to go on a
kids’ rock album. Young kids love 'Boris the Spider' and a lot of the other
songs I'd written. So we were gonna release a children’s album with all these
snakes and spiders and creepy things. So they all ended up being used for
B-sides on albums that came afterwards. And I just got this black image but the
song was written for a children’s album, a project that Kit Lambert thought
of..."

Pete would later
write his own Moon-inspired song on the same theme, "Dr. Jimmy," for
Quadrophenia. This track came
out in two different mixes and lengths. The first, running 2:24, was released as
the B-side of "Call Me Lightning" worldwide except for the U.K. In the U.S. it
was Decca 32288 and first appeared on the charts March 2, 1968. It was
subsequently used on the Decca album Magic Bus - The Who On Tour and the
only CD with this mix is the 1988 issue of that album that is still available as
a Canadian import.

The second,
running 2:38, with "Hyde noises" and extra spooky guitar much more
prominent in the the mix, was first
issued in the U.K. as the B-side of "Magic Bus" 11 Oct. 1968. The only CD issue
was on Polydor's Rarities 1966-1972 Vol. 1 & Rarities 1966-1972 Vol. 2.
This CD is out of print.

The second of
Roger's solo written songs to make it into The Who's catalog first appeared as
the B-side of "The Seeker" released 20 March 1970. It was also the first
released track of the new country & western-type recordings that would become
part of The Who's 1970-1971 sound (cf; "I Don't Even Know Myself," "Now I'm A
Farmer," "Let's See Action"). It was released on CD on Polydor's Rarities
1966-1972 Vol. 1 & Rarities 1966-1972 Vol. 2 and MCA's Who's Missing.
The latter is still available as a Canadian import. To date, there has been only one live performance of this song and that has been
by Pete Townshend who performed it on the Rachel Fuller webcast In The
Attic 30 May 2006.

When I Was A
Boy

(John Entwistle)
Gowmonk, Inc. (BMI)

Recorded at
Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes, U.K. 7 June 1971

Produced by Glyn
Johns

Originally called
"Time Waits For No One" and released as the B-side of "Let's See Action"
released 15 Oct. 1971. The song's performance and depressing theme bears a
strong resemblance to John's then-recent solo album Smash Your Head Against
The Wall. It was released on CD on Polydor's Rarities
1966-1972 Vol. 1 & Rarities 1966-1972 Vol. 2 and MCA's Who's Missing.
The latter is still available as a Canadian import.

Wasp Man

(Keith Moon)
Gowmonk, Inc. (BMI)

Recorded at
Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes, U.K. 7 Aug. 1972

Produced by Glyn
Johns

The origin of this
track comes from a late-1960's incident aboard one of The Who's many horrible
plane flights. During some white-knuckle turbulence, Moon and a groupie escaped
to the bathroom. Shortly after, Moon burst forth with the groupie's bra wrapped
over his head and announced, "I'll save you! I'm Wasp Man!" In addition to
writing this song, Moon also bought a wasp costume and wore it whenever the mood
struck him.

"Wasp Man" was the
b-side of "Relay" released 25 Nov. 1972. CD releases were on Polydor's Rarities
1966-1972 Vol. 1 & Rarities 1966-1972 Vol. 2 and MCA's Two's Missing.
Both are out of print.

Vocal: Roger
Daltrey and chorus. Chorus containing group The Breakaways recorded March 1974.

Recorded at
Ramport Studios, Battersea, London, Jan. - Mar. 1974.

Produced by Pete
Townshend and Ken Russell.

Chief Engineer:
Ron Nevison

The above five
tracks were recorded for the soundtrack to Tommy: The Movie and were
listed on the soundtrack as being by "The Who." Apparently "The Who" was considered
to be anything with Pete on guitar, John on bass and
Keith on drums. Keith was unavailable for the rest of the soundtrack as he was busy
playing a role in the sequel to the movie That'll Be The Day
(1973), Stardust (1975). His place was taken by the drummer for
The Faces, Kenney Jones, who got along splendidly with Pete and John, thus
laying the groundwork for his being chosen as Keith's replacement three and a half
years later. The soundtrack was released in the U.S. Feb. 22, 1975 where it went
to #2 in the Billboard charts, two positions higher than The Who's
original album. In the U.K., where it was released 21 March 1975, the
soundtrack stalled at #21. The soundtrack was issued on CD as part of the
re-issue program March 5, 2001 and is still in print.

Get Out And
Stay Out (2:28)

(Pete Townshend)
Songs of Windswept Pacific; Towser Tunes, Inc. (BMI)

Drums: Kenney
Jones

Four Faces
(3:21)

(Pete Townshend)
Songs of Windswept Pacific; Towser Tunes, Inc. (BMI)

Drums: Keith Moon
(recorded 1973)

Joker James
(3:14)

(Pete Townshend)
Songs of Windswept Pacific; Towser Tunes, Inc. (BMI)

Drums: Kenney
Jones

All three of the
above songs were recorded whole or in part at Ramport Studios, Battersea,
London, Jan. 1979.

Produced by John
Entwistle

Engineer: Dave
"Cy" Langston

Pete: "'Joker
James' was the first song I wrote for Quad. In other
words, I took that song as the basis for the image of the kid -- the way he saw
himself -- as this kind of reasonable joker whose life doesn't come off but, in
fact, on the outside he didn't appear that way at all and he was very far from
being a joker. In fact, I kept the song in right the way up to the point where
the band went into the studio and then suddenly Quad took on a different
turn. As soon as the band started laying down backing tracks at Battersea, it
didn't feel like the Quad that I thought was going to come out. It was
much heavier, much more brutal, and so I dropped it. I dropped about three other
numbers that were quite alike, that one, 'Get Out And Stay Out' and ['Four
Faces']. That's the track that was originally called 'Quadrophenia'...it was
called 'Four Hang-Ups' -- that was written on the box but 'Four Faces' has
always been what I called it."

The lyrics for
"Joker James" were originally published in the Sept. 1968 issue of Eye
magazine. In the 23 Sept. 1972 issue of Record Mirror, Pete claimed he
wrote it "at the same time as 'I'm A Boy.'" The "disco" version of "The Real
Me," misidentified as "Kenney Jones audition session" on the
30 Years of Maximum R&B boxset, was recorded during the
same sessions. This was, however, the first recordings made with Kenney after he
had replaced Keith Moon. Quadrophenia/Original Soundtrack was released on
Polydor Records worldwide Oct. 5, 1979. It was issued on CD as part of the
re-issue program March 5, 2001 and is still in print.

Dig (3:59)

(Pete Townshend)
Songs of Windswept Pacific; Towser Tunes, Inc. (BMI)

Produced by Pete
Townshend

Pete: "I really
wanted Roger on the record. 'Dig' had a synthesizer bass on it. Once Roger was
on there, something seemed to be missing and I figured it was really live bass,
and I asked John if he minded doing it, and he agreed to do it...it wasn't quite
the old magic, but there certainly was a chemistry there."

Produced and
arranged by Peter
Wolf [Not the J. Geils Band vocalist. This Austrian-born musician and
producer is best known as Frank Zappa's keyboardist 1978-1983.]

Pete: "When I
first put the collection together, there seemed to be a hole in the fire scene.
I said to my manager that the trouble with fire songs is that it's all been
said...I said the best song is just 'Fire, fire, fire, fire/You're going to
burn.' And Bill [Curbishley] said what a great idea. I said, 'No, I didn't mean
the actual song.' But I sat down and thought that it wouldn't hurt."

Recorded at Eel
Pie Studios, London. The most likely recording date for Roger and John's part on
"Dig" and the entirety of "Fire" is early 1989.

Acoustic ("Dig")
and Electric ("Fire") guitar: Pete Townshend

Bass: John
Entwistle

Vocal: Roger
Daltrey

Drums: Simon
Phillips

Brass ("Dig"):
Pete Beachill, John Barclay

The Iron Man
was a musical written by Pete based on British poet laureate Ted Hughes' children's book
The Iron Man (Faber & Faber, 1968). The fact that Pete was also
working for the book's publishers during the 1980's probably had something to do
with the genesis of the musical. The
project began Nov. 1986 with a meeting between Pete and Ted Hughes. "Dig" was demo'ed exactly a year later, then was recorded with Pete's brother Simon
Townshend on lead vocal. Both the demo and the Simon recording have been
released. The song describes the villagers' plan to dig a pit to capture the
gigantic Iron Man of the title but also neatly touches on one of the main themes
of Pete's 1980's work, the fear of world war (cf:, It's Hard).

"Fire" was
originally a hit for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, released 14 June 1968 and
reaching #1 in the U.K. charts (#2 in the U.S. Billboard charts). Pete discovered Arthur Brown when Arthur performed at the
Fourteen Hour Technicolour Dream at Alexandra Palace in London 29 Apr. 1967 and
signed him to Track Records. He received an "associate producer" credit on
"Fire" although it was actually produced by Who manager Kit Lambert. In the
musical the song is about a trial by fire between the Iron Man and a gigantic
Space Dragon.

Although not yet
confirmed, it appears that there were no plans by Pete to have Roger or John
participate in The Iron Man as of late 1988. The timeline suggests that
Pete may have brought them in to the project around the same time he decided to
participate in the 1989 25th Anniversary Who tour. The Iron Man
LP and CD was released July 15, 1989 on Atlantic Records and peaked at #58 on
the U.S. Billboard charts. It failed to chart in the U.K.

Produced by Simon
Townshend at Eel Pie Oceanic Studios, London c. Nov. 2003.

Engineer: Bob
Pridden and Myles Clarke

Guitars, backing
vocals: Pete Townshend

Vocal: Roger
Daltrey

Bass: Greg Lake

Drums: Zak Starkey

Piano: John
Bundrick

Additional guitars
and keyboards: Simon Townshend

Pete: "REAL GOOD
LOOKING BOY is a song I wrote quite a few years ago about two young men who
worry about their looks. One of them, based on me - hopes and believes he might
look like his best friend who is a conventionally handsome fellow. (He is
disavowed of this notion by his mother). The second, based on Roger - hopes and
believes he will one day turn out to be like the young Elvis. (He, more happily,
sees part of his dream come true). They both find love in later life."

"Real Good Looking
Boy" was written in 1995 and The Who with John Entwistle may have attempted a
preliminary version of the song 14 June 2002. Pete mentioned on his website that
the recording was "finished" 13 Nov. 2003. Greg Lake, formerly of Emerson, Lake
and Palmer, stepped in to play bass during a time when Pino Palladino was absent
touring with Simon and Garfunkel. The additional writer credits are due to the
inclusion of part of the Elvis Presley hit "Can't Help Falling In Love (With
You)." The song was itself a re-write of a French hit, "Plaisir d'amour" by Jean
Paul Egide Martini and was adapted by the three people after Townshend above for
the Elvis movie Blue Hawaii (1961). Although previously unlisted
as related to the piece, this song was included in the 2007 theatrical workshop
version of The Boy Who Heard Music, sung by Gabriel, John and Ray
High. (See
Endless Wire liner notes).

Produced by Simon
Townshend at Eel Pie Oceanic Studios, London c. Early 2004.

Engineer: Bob
Pridden and Myles Clarke

Guitars, piano,
backing vocals: Pete Townshend

Vocal: Roger
Daltrey

Bass: Pino
Palladino

Drums: Zak Starkey

Hammond organ and
additional piano: John Bundrick

Pete: "OLD RED
WINE I wrote right here in the hotel I now sit in (in NY) about the late John
Entwistle. He loved expensive claret, and often drank it past its prime. There
is an irony there somehow: John never seemed to realize how perfectly MATURE he
had really become as rock musician. He didn't need the trappings he thought
essential, and that - in my opinion - led directly to his premature death."

Both the above
songs had their live premiere at The Forum in London 23 March 2004 (A
preliminary version of "Old Red Wine" was played in Toronto Sept. 28, 2002). Both tracks
were first released on the Who best-of collection Then and Now! 1964-2004
on Geffen March 30, 2004 and afterwards as a single on Polydor as part of The
1st Singles Box collection released 2 May 2004.

If you want to contact me about something on this page, click on
my name. I want corrections!Brian
Cady